Only Best Friends
by Sweets5236
Summary: Harry, Ron, and Hermione find themselves looking to each other for help throughout their lives.  Because only best friends could comfort you when no one else could.
1. First Year

**Edited: July 4, 2012**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

**This is right after Harry defeated Quirrell in Sorcerer's Stone.**

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**** Hermione Granger walked quietly up the staircase to the first year boys' dorm, hoping that she wouldn't get caught. She couldn't have her record any more tarnished then it already was. Pushing her bushy brown hair out of her eyes, she went step by step willing the staircase not to creak. Her heart was pounding and adrenaline was still pumping through her eleven year old veins.

A little shadow made her jump and she had to stop herself from making any noise. Who knew what crazy person was out to get her and her friends now? Luckily, it was just Trevor, Neville's runaway frog.

She had just experienced the worst nightmare she had ever had; it would certainly not be the last either. It was really quite awful and involved Ron getting killed by a giant pawn and Harry dying at Voldemort's hand. The scary part was it had almost happened in real life. You'd think a world renowned school for wizards and witches would be a bit safer or at least have the sense to not contain the Sorcerer's Stone.

She had sat in bed for a few minutes after she woke from her nightmare, willing her fear to go away. Before long she couldn't take the dark any more no matter how hard she wished to just fall asleep. She had decided she would go see Ron…seeing him would make her understand that her dream was nothing more then a figment of her imagination. Hermione needed to fight fear with fact; it was what she did best.

If she was told she was going to fight a troll, Devil's Snare, flying keys, play on a giant chessboard, and almost have two of her best friends killed in one night, she would have laughed in their face. Yet, it had happened no matter how much laughing would've been done.

She slowly pushed the door open once she got to the top of the boy's side of the Gryffindor Tower and hopped over to Ron's bed. Before she shook him awake she heard him quietly muttering in his sleep.

"No…Harry…Hermione! AH! Killer chess set and angry plants! Quick Dumbledore!"

It would have been hilarious to an innocent bystander. It wasn't often that you heard someone whisper in their sleep a sentence that would have been screamed if they were awake. Hermione didn't feel the slightest desire to laugh though, for she had been going through the same thing.

"Ron…Ron wake up!" she whispered in his ear while poking him in the arm.

He groggily sat up and looked around confused as if he didn't remember how he got where he was. When he saw Hermione standing next to his bed he grabbed his wand and motioned for her to follow him downstairs.

They got to the common room and Ron plopped down in his favorite chair and Hermione sat on the floor in front of the ongoing fire that sported the Gryffindor colors.

"I was having nightmares," she said slowly, not sure if he would make fun of her.

"Me too."

"I miss Harry…do you…do you think he's okay?" she asked, almost scared for the answer.

Ron nodded his head, but she could tell he wasn't really sure.

"I don't think I can sleep with him down their all by himself…he's probably having nightmares too, but he has no one to help him." He said looking almost guiltily at the plush red carpet.

They both turned to each other and with a silent understanding Ron went upstairs and came back down with Harry's invisibility cloak.

"Willing to break a few rules…for Harry?" he asked grinning. Hermione smiled and got under the cloak with Ron.

They carefully walked out the portrait hole and stayed quiet so that they wouldn't wake the Fat Lady. Their efforts failed and she spent several minutes looking for whoever had gone out, not realizing they were in fact invisible.

Getting to the Hospital Wing without being seen or heard was actually quite easy. No one was patrolling the halls tonight (besides Mrs. Norris who they narrowly avoided) because they were all sleeping soundly in their beds as they should be.

When Hermione saw Harry in the white hospital bed she almost cried. He was battered and bruised and his arm was in a cast. He was currently rolling around in his sleep with a rather painful expression on his face. She looked to Ron and her feelings were mirrored on his face.

Hermione took it into her own hands to walk over to the bed and slowly climb under the covers on Harry's right side. Ron got in on the left, careful not to bump their friend.

Once they both settled down, Hermione grabbed Harry's hand tightly, trying to suck some of his courage into herself. He instantly became still and his thrashing stopped. Hermione smiled as silent tears came out of her eyes.

"Our brother almost… died." she whispered to Ron. He shook his head in understanding. Harry was the closest thing she had to a brother and she knew Ron thought of Harry as a brother as well.

A few moments later they both fell asleep next to their best friend because only best friends can comfort you when no one else could.

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Madame Pomfrey was terrified for little Harry. She had no idea how a small boy of eleven could do what he did and get out alive. Curse Dumbledore and his three-headed dogs.

When the headmaster had rushed Mr. Potter into the Hospital with his two friends close behind him, she almost passed out. Obviously the story had traveled around the school that the three children had gone to get the Stone, but she had assumed it was one of the many rumors that seemed to float around Hogwarts with the ghosts. This boy saved the world…again.

There had been tears streaming out of Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley's eyes and they were clearly scared out of their wits at the state of their best friend. Her heart ached at the sight. To be so young and go through so much was a cruel and terrible thing.

She had forced a dreamless sleep potion down Harry's throat as soon as Albus set him down, hoping that he could get some rest. Apparently it wasn't working because all night he had been thrashing in his sleep. Some things medicine couldn't cure; this must be one of those things. The boy would have to be brave for there was nothing she could do for these horrible nightmares.

She spent that night constantly getting up to check on him whenever she heard the rustling of his sheets. They would get straightened and re-tucked so that he wouldn't tangle himself in them each time. At about 3:00 AM the rustling finally stopped and Madame Pomfrey was able to fall into a weary sleep. Perhaps things would be better tomorrow.

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A heart-warming sight was now right in front of the old nurse's eyes. It was 7:30 in the morning and she had gone to check on her patient to find Ron and Hermione sleeping on both sides of him.

Hermione was clutching Harry's hand as if her life depended on it and Ron was about to slide off the bed. His hand was dangling to the floor and his snores were prominent. How she was able to sleep through those Madame Pomfrey didn't know.

All three were sleeping soundly and Harry looked a lot better then he did the last time she checked on him. More color had come to his cheeks and the bags were disappearing from under his eyes. She realized why he finally fell into a peaceful sleep the night before. Only best friends would wake up at three in the morning to help you.

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**Please tell me what you think! :)**


	2. Fifth Year

**Edited: July 5, 2012**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

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"Harry…are you alright?"

"Yeah Hermione, of course I'm alright. I practically killed my only father figure," replied Harry sarcastically while staring into the fire. It was almost like he was willing the face of his godfather to appear in the flickering heat like it once used to.

Hermione frowned and looked to Ron who just shrugged his shoulders in defeat. They were all currently sitting in the common room after _another_ experience that could have killed them. Realizing it was a rather silly question, she rested her head on Harry's shoulder and sighed. Could life get more difficult?

Harry leaned back so that Hermione was more comfortable on the couch. Ron, who was on the other side of Hermione, grabbed her hand. He turned it over and fiddled with it for a while, bending and turning her fingers.

Thestrals, tiny old-fashioned phone booths, a legendary prophecy, and a tank full of brains all in one night. Wow. They were all able to bet everything they owned to say that no one had been through half as many things as that in their life let alone one night.

Hermione thought over these things one by one…trying to use her logic to calm her down. She was fighting fears with fact. The chances of having a life like she did were about one in a million...but it still happened. She's almost been strangled by plants, got paralyzed by a Basilisk, helped an escapee from Azkaban, assisted a fourteen year old in the Triwizard Tournament, and secretly traveled to the Ministry during school to save the previously mentioned escapee who didn't really need to be saved. She'd experienced tragedy, relief, terror, and panic in amounts far too large to be healthy. She could only imagine what would happen next year.

Ron was having very similar thoughts to Hermione's. The one that was constantly reappearing in his mind was that brains _attacked_ him. What normal person do brains attack! That particular thought struck a nerve though and made him discover a rather funny realization…he wasn't normal…not in the least bit! He almost died playing chess, he's faced killer, talking, giant spiders, almost had his leg ripped off by a dog, asked a part veela to a ball, and flew on a thestral even though he couldn't see it! He knew for sure that he _wasn't_ normal.

Harry's thoughts were quite different then his best friends though. Instead of imagining what he _did_ do, he imagined what he wouldn't have been able to do without his friends. He would be dead. He realized that without Ron and Hermione or anyone else who supported him, he wouldn't have even made it past first year! Hermione saved him from Devil's Snare, Ron's car saved him from being eaten by spiders, Remus saved him from murdering Sirius when Harry had false information, his parents saved him from being killed by Voldemort in the graveyard, and the Order saved him at the Ministry. It was quite scary to think that if he had never sat next to Ron on the train or saved Hermione from a troll…he wouldn't be alive.

"What now?" Ron asked leaning over Hermione to look at Harry.

"Now? Now I think we should all get some sleep." Harry said running his hand through his hair and letting it linger over his scar.

Hermione agreed and snuggled in closer to Harry. Ron tilted his head so that it was on Hermione's shoulder with her hand still in his.

Within seconds they fell asleep thinking about how they were the one in a million. They dreamed of a better world, one that didn't constantly need saving.

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Neville grinned when he saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione asleep on the couch together in the morning. He had woken up in the Hospital Wing and walked back up to the common room before Madame Pomfrey could tell him off. Sometimes that was the only way to deal with the old healer.

When he entered the familiar room, the fire was still going and he was greeted with silence. The silence was a heck of a lot better then the screams and shouted curses he had heard the night before.

Lying on the biggest couch of the space were the three people he admired most. They could have been normal kids based on their peaceful expressions. They seemed as if they had spent the night studying or playing Gobstones. People who didn't know them wouldn't guess that they had just down terribly brave acts the night before only to come out with a life lost…a very important life apparently.

Neville had just discovered that Sirius Black was innocent, and Harry's godfather at that, the night before. You can imagine that it shocked him. Harry obviously was very fond of his godfather too. The face that appeared on Harry's as Sirius fell back into the veil was one that would never leave his mind.

They looked almost too peaceful here. Surely sleep was the only time they at to themselves. And, as far as Neville knew, even that reassuring fact was being taken away from Harry due to persistent nightmares.

The only thing that ruined the peaceful image were the scars. There were a lot of them. Harry had the most obviously. He had that awful one on his forehead. It was the one that destined him to one day defeat the Dark Lord. Another rather long one was on his arm (Neville had no idea where he got his one, but he assumed Harry got it during the tournament). There were also the cruel words that had been carved into his hand. _I must not tell _lies. He had gotten that one from telling the absolute truth. What was the world coming to? He was also covered in many scrapes and cuts from all the time turners that had fallen on him.

Ron and Hermione had scars too. Ron's arms were lined with pinkish streaks that would surely stay for as long as he lived. This was courtesy of the brains. Several little marks dotted his fingers, perhaps those were from the rat he used to have. Neville remembered Ron often yelping in pain when that rat used to bite him. Neville hadn't seen the rat for two years. Maybe it was dead.

Hermione had the most damage from the time turners. Who knew, those might just scar too. It looked like she had been put through a shredder. Little scrapes and cuts littered her arms, face, and legs.

Yesterday they were fighting for their lives and today it _almost_ looked like they were normal. He felt a pang of jealousy inside him when he thought about how great of friends they were, but it was over quickly. He actually wasn't surprised to see them together right now. They often never let the other leave their sights after something crazy happened. As his grandma said,

"I betcha they have wisdom beyond _my_ years…and only at the age of 15." Then she would always shake her head in worry and continue whatever she was doing.

He knew that he saw things about the trio's friendship that no one else did. He saw their silent way of communicating; he saw how Hermione twitched funny when Harry walked into that horrible maze last year. He also saw how Ron and Hermione stood on either side of Harry whenever Umbridge had walked down the hall this year, how Hermione's eyes filled with tears when Harry's hand was out where she could see it and his scars were prominent. He saw Ron grin whenever Harry had walked into the hall last year, only to see it disappear and become a frown when he realized they were in a fight. He also saw Harry slouch ever so slightly when one of his best friends walked off to do something that didn't involve him, and he saw how Harry always turned looked them in the eyes when he needed confidence. They all needed each other for different reasons. Only best friends could act like that.

Sometimes Neville imagined have such wonderful friends who knew him like the back of their hands. He _did_ have wonderful friends…but not like that. He had Ginny, Luna, and he even was a good friend of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. It just wasn't the same.

When he saw Hermione nuzzle further into Harry and stretch her legs out on Ron's lap he smiled sadly. He knew that only best friends could save the world multiple times and come out alive.


	3. After the Battle

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

**Edited: July 5, 2012**

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It was all over. Voldemort was finished and he wasn't coming back this time. After being forced to make appearances at 12 different parties around Hogwarts alone, Harry declared that he had enough so he marched up to bed, ready to sleep no matter what anyone else said.

He felt awful attending parties. It felt like he was celebrating the fact that half of his friends died rather then the fact that Voldemort was gone. His heart was currently broken and the time it would take to mend would be immense.

His sleep was fretful and he had nightmare after nightmare. He just couldn't seem to drift of and he knew Ron was having the same problem because his snoring was absent from the bed a few feet over.

"Harry…you okay?" he heard Ron's voice say.

"No…not really" Harry had realized that he couldn't hide anything from his friends at this point.

He heard the dorm door slowly creak open and he grabbed his wand and slammed his glasses to face on instinct. Needless, to say after all he'd been through he'd _always_ be a bit jumpy. For all he knew he could turn into an eighteen year old Mad-Eye Moody. He looked to see Ron with his wand out too.

"Calm down, it's just me" said Hermione's quiet voice. "I couldn't sleep."

"Us neither" Ron said.

"Come down to the common room with me?" she asked almost hesitantly.

"Sure." Harry replied sliding out of his bed.

The trio trudged down to the common room and Hermione easily transfigured the couch. It no longer fit the boys' gangly limbs and turning it to a bed would be much easier. They climbed under the covers with Hermione in the middle.

"It seemed weird not being next to each other any way." She said sighing.

"Yeah" Ron whispered.

They hadn't left each other's sight all day. Ron and Hermione even waited outside the bathroom door while Harry was getting ready for bed. Some would call it paranoia, but in their minds, they were just genuinely concerned about one another.

They had known each other for seven years and after running from the darkest wizard yet to be seen for a year, they were scared. They were scared that one of them would drop dead or get kidnapped. They were terrified actually because they couldn't shake the thought that they were in danger out of their heads. They weren't though. Their main threat was gone, yet the feeling was still there. They had lived in a tent with each other that year and now it was strange not having at least one of them standing on your side at all times.

Hermione described it as a strange opposite of claustrophobia. She said that without them there she felt like the room was cold and icy and would swallow her up any second.

Slowly, they all fell into a deep sleep, side by side…just like they always were.

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Minerva McGonagall's energy was completely drained, as it should be. At least she was safe now…thanks to three seventeen year old children. The thought still startled her, but she'd get used to it eventually. She knew that she needed to check on the Gryffindors before she went to bed so she decided to make it quick and get it over with.

She walked into the common to see a bed placed in the middle with three of her pupils in it. A small smile graced her usually stern lips when she realized who it was. Those three really were inseparable. Seeing them she couldn't help but wonder what they did during their time away from Hogwarts that year. Did they really break out of Gringotts on a dragon?

Her motherly instincts went into action and she slid the blanket over them so that it was straighter and Mr. Weasley's arm wasn't uncovered.

Only best friends could destroy 7 horcruxes, successfully break out of Gringotts, and defeat the darkest of all wizards.

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**End of the story! Please Review**


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